CenterPoint Energy is committed to providing safe and reliable services to the communities we have a privilege to serve. To maintain the safety and reliability of these services, it is important to understand our rights-of-way (ROWs), easements and encroachments.
What are easements, ROWs and encroachments?
CenterPoint owns specific land rights that allow us to provide utility services across our territory, including the rights to install, construct, operate and maintain equipment and facilities. These land rights remain with the land and continue to restrict certain kinds of development regardless of any transfers in property ownership.
The terms
easement and
ROW are often used interchangeably, as they both grant a legal right to use another person’s land for a specific reason – such as accessing, installing and maintaining gas lines and electric poles, along with other utility-specific functions.
An
encroachment is the unauthorized use of CenterPoint’s easement or ROW. It can occur when a landowner or land use professional builds, plans to build or performs an activity within the boundary limits of an easement or ROW without written permission.
Why is it important to work with CenterPoint prior to encroaching on an easement or ROW?
CenterPoint’s requirements are in place to help maintain the safety and reliability of our facilities and prevent damage or unsafe conditions. Because every encroachment is different, it’s the responsibility of the owner or land use professional to contact us for guidance before starting any construction in or near our easement or ROW.
Next steps
Approval must be granted by CenterPoint before any work is performed on an easement or ROW. We review each situation on a case-by-case basis.
What is needed to gain approval?
You must:
- Provide a project or development scope of work with a plan description and profile surveys. Encroachment profiles are required to show depth of cover along with the vertical and clearance between CenterPoint’s facilities and the encroachment.
- A location map showing the project site area, including geographical references such as property lines, roads and appropriate deed information concerning the properties impacted.
- Submit a completed
Consent to Encroachment application.
For more information, please contact us:
Texas:
lrow@CenterPointEnergy.com
713-207-5769 or 713-207-6348
Indiana and Ohio:
encroachmentgroup@CenterPointEnergy.com
800-227-1376
